Coronavirus: US faced with protests amid pressure to reopen

Protesters have taken to the streets in states across the US, demanding that governors reopen economies shut by the coronavirus pandemic.

Rallies in Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Washington state took place on Sunday, following earlier protests in half a dozen states.

Agitation for easing restrictions has grown, despite the risk of a Covid-19 resurgence posed by reopening too soon.

US President Donald Trump has signalled support for the protests.

The US has become the centre of the Covid-19 crisis, with over 735,000 cases and some 40,000 deaths - but signs have emerged that it is reaching the apex of the outbreak and that infection rates are slowing in some states.

In Washington state, an early US virus hotspot, hundreds of people gathered in the state capital, Olympia, to demand the governor relax rules restricting the economy.

Police estimated the crowd at 2,500, making it one of the largest protests in US states against lockdowns over the past week, Reuters news agency reports.

Many of the protesters ignored social distancing guidelines, as well as pleas from rally organisers to wear masks.

Montana saw a few hundred protesters at a rally held in Helena, the Associated Press news agency reports.